Talk:Special

From Wikipedia

[[THE REPORT RHB visit to the UK

1. Introduction]]

This was the first Regional Health Board (RHB) visit to the UK under the Comic Relief and British Embassy funding. Dr. Yasin Arab Abdi, Director of Hargeisa Group Hospital (HGH), a member of the Board arrived in London on 19 September 2004. Another member, Amina Yusuf Arr, had already been in London at the last leg of a trip to Europe that started in Brusselles. Mohamed Hussein Abby, Chairman of the Board joined the team on 30 September 2004.

The visit had three main aims: 1. Training at KCH. 2. The RHB to meet the Boards and Managements of both THET and KCH. 3. RHB to establish contact with the Somaliland Diaspora for fundraising and general support to rehabilitate the Hargeisa Group Hospital and in general the health service provision in the Capital Region of Somaliland.

2. Training

The training programme was to give Dr.Yasin an outside exposure in the setting of a recognised and well-known college hospital. This is to have the feel first-hand of the working atmosphere in a big, modern hospital and compare it with what we have in Somaliland. He also found and bought some useful books that will form the base of a medical library to be started at the HGH.

Dr. Yasin found the training very challenging and interesting and he gained more experience both medically and in hospital management.

3. Meetings

As RHB the members got acquainted with the management and board of trustees of both THET and KCH as well as the members of the Kings’ THET Somaliland Partnership (KTSP) family.

On 6 October the RHB participated in the committee meeting of the KTSP, which now expanded beyond the KCH. The meeting looked at the overview of the KTSP activities including an up coming three visits to Somaliland on November 13 and 20, 2004, and January 10, 2005. Following the meeting, Dr. Andy arranged a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant.

On 13 October, Ms Angela Grainger arranged for the RHB an informal gathering with KCH Board of Trustees and Senior Management. Present were the Chairman, Mr. Michael Parker and Senior Manager, Mr. John Watson whom individually Mr. Abby and Dr. Yasin later met.

A special welcome always awaited the visiting members of the RHB at the THET office. Besides the coordinator, Ms Sarah Adams who knew all the members, a jolly team there made available for the visitors the email, the telephone, photocopy and other facilities.

The RHB also met members of the Board of Trustees including Dr. Parry and Mr. Michael Baber. Mr. Abby had two sessions with Ms Lisa Sutton, fundraiser at THET and discussed fundraising strategies and ideas. Lisa prepared detailed notes on the subject.

On 8 October Abby attended the Executive Committee meeting of the Anglo/Somali Society to thank them for the donation of $1529 last year to the HGH.

4. Somaliland community

The RHB’s first contact with the Somaliland Diaspora community in the UK went off well. NOMAD, a youth group kicked off the fundraising effort with an event organized at the Harlesden Community Centre in NW London on 10 October. Abby, Dr. Yasin and Amina attended this event. Next the RHB members were invited to a fundraising event in Cardiff on 27 October. On 30 October Dr. Yasin returned to Hargeisa, and 31 October Abby and Amina started a fundraising drive that took them to Bristol, Hull, Sheffield, Liverpool and Birmingham. In the end the funds raised all together came to $16,498.

The spirit of the Somaliland community and their enthusiasm for helping their home land was exceptional. The following are some of the highlights of this drive:

Ahmed-Hakim Jehad volunteered to take the RHB team in his car anywhere outside London and any time he was available within London.

Mrs. Lulu Farah of Health Foundation volunteered to establish a Charity Trust for the RHB and to set up a website to connect worldwide the friends of HGH. Lulu was instrumental in the contact with Lord Averberry who put the RHB in touch with the chairman of a charity the Lord helped set up for Kashmir. One rainy day Lulu with two year old daughter, a pram in hand, took Abby and Amina from Wembley in W London to Bow High Street in the East end of London. There they saw the chairman to learn from his experience in establishing a charity and his methods of fundraising.

Lulu was also instrumental in Amina writing on behalf of the RHB to the Department for International Development (DFID) in London, and asks for support to the HGH. Amina copied her letter to Mr. Tony Worthington MP, who in turn contacted the Secretary of State, Mr. Hilary Benn. Mr. Benn in his reply to Mr. Worthington suggested among other things that Amina contact Dr. John Kelly whose work is supported by DFID. In Birmingham Abby and Amina met with Dr. Kelly who agreed to start a programme in obstetrics at the HGH. This will be in co-ordination with the work CARE and UNFPA are already doing in the HGH.

Wherever the RHB went women were at the forefront in the fundraising campaign. They were much more organized and more willing and ready to help than men. It is estimated that about 80% of the funds raised came from women collecting among themselves.

Several Somaliland youth organizations like NOMAD in London and Birmingham, Health Foundation in London, Support Somaliland in Cardiff and Health Relief in Bristol helped the RHB a lot.

The Cardiff Somaliland community made the extra effort to arrange meetings for RHB with Mr. Peter Farley, Head of Public Health Development at the Welsh Office as well as Mr. Simon Jones and Mr. Hugh Ross, Chairman and Executive Director of the Cardiff and Vale Trust respectively. The meetings were promising and the officials of the Welsh Office and the Cardiff and Vale Trust showed willingness to help and work with the RHB. The Cardiff community also arranged for RHB a meeting with Mr. Robin White of the BBC who was in town at the time to make a programme on the African Diaspora.

The Somaliland community in Bristol arranged for Abby a meeting with Mr. Johnny Young, the producer of the BBC/Comic Relief film on the HGH. After that Abby tried to also meet in London with Mr. Richard Graham of Comic Relief who had come to Hargeisa, but time did not permit.

Mr. Chris Hassan is a Somalilander born in Hull from an English mother. He came to HGH last year with a donation of $3,364 raised by his 11 year old students at Endeavour Secondary school, after they had seen the Comic Relief film on HGH. Chris invited the RHB to Hull. On 1 November Ahmed-Hakim Jehad took Abby and Amina there in his car. Chris put them up in a hotel for the night and in the morning of 2 November he assembled the students in a big hall and showed them with RHB team a film he had taken in Hargeisa. After the film with the school Head Master and the local press Chris introduced the RHB team and the Head Master handed them a cheque for $3,420 and presented them a plaque bearing the signatures of all the students that participated in the fundraising activities. Abby thanked Chris, the teachers, the students and the people of Hull. After a tea reception some of the students took the RHB team round the school. In the afternoon the RHB had tea with Chris’ parents. Chris’ father was not back to Somaliland for 50 years.

The plaque now adorns the RHB office as a permanent testimony of the link and friendship between Hargeisa and Hull.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the RHB was impressed with the reception they in this first visit to the UK and training programme at KCH. They qualified this trip as an outstanding all round success.